---
category: "Intelligence & Government"
tags:
  - Person
  - CIA
  - ArmsDealer
  - Israel
summary: "Iranian Jewish arms dealer recruited by Mossad who coordinated the October 1980 Washington meeting on hostage release negotiations."
---

[[Hushang Lavi]] was an [[Iran|Iranian]] Jew living in the [[United States|U.S.]]. He was a known arms dealer and worked for [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence. He left [[Iran]] under the [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah]] to live in the [[United States|United States]]. From the [[United States|U.S.]], he frequently visited [[Israel]] and was recruited by [[Mossad]] in the late 1970s as an intelligence asset to further [[Israel|Israel's]] arms-sales policies.[^1]

[[Hushang Lavi|Lavi]] coordinated the details of the October 1980 [[Washington meeting (October, 1980)|Washington meeting]] between [[United States|American]] and [[Iran|Iranian]] officials, where [[Ahmed Omshei]] outlined the [[Israel|Israeli]] plan for hostage release. His work for the [[Israel|Israeli]] government ended in 1983 because he refused to heed warnings about his unauthorized moonlighting in arms with the [[Hashemi brothers]], among others.[^1]

### Footnotes
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.